LESLIE: Debbie in Florida is calling in with an electrical question. What can we do for you?
DEBBIE: I have several ceiling fans in my home and when – they all have the attached bulbs for the light.
TOM: OK.
DEBBIE: And when I turn the ceiling fan off with the remote, it stops the fan but the bulbs, at nighttime, unless you – they just constantly flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker. And unless you turn off the wall switch, then you can’t use your ceiling fan, of course. And I was wondering if you knew how to fix that.
TOM: Hmm. Sounds to me like it’s still getting power and it shouldn’t be doing that. Are all the fans of the same – made by the same manufacturer?
DEBBIE: Yes.
TOM: Well why don’t you contact the manufacturer?
DEBBIE: That would be a good idea. That’s a great idea.
TOM: Because I don’t think – what you’re describing is not normal behavior and there may be a core defect that’s affecting all of these fans. But if you have it turned off and it’s not going off, then something’s wrong with the circuit. And when I say circuit, I mean internal; I don’t mean external.
LESLIE: Like in the light fixture itself.
TOM: I mean the light fixture itself.
DEBBIE: Yeah, well, the only way I can stop it is just to turn the switch off.
TOM: Right. Because then you know positively that you have no power going to it and hence it’s not going to flicker. But when you do have power going to it, it does flicker and it’s not supposed to do that. So, I would contact the manufacturer and take it from there.
DEBBIE: OK. Well, I appreciate that. Thank you very much. I didn’t even consider that but thank you for your knowledge. I appreciate it.
TOM: You’re welcome, Debbie. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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